Checkoutmycards.com

[ohiomike]

Originally Posted by tattooelement

I think it's the reasons stated above and the lack of timely manner on their part. People may say they don't mind waiting longer than a quoted timeline, but face it.. they do. And waiting forever to receive what you requested shipped to you isn't great either. COMC's DSR shipping time/charges rating would be crap right now if it had one..

COMC would be suspended as an ebay seller if they were one due to the incredibly low DSR rating they would surely be receiving for their shipping policies.

Personally, I am willing to absorb their outrageously high shipping costs on bulk orders because I am a seller and avoid the 20% cash-out fee by using those funds to buy other cards. I basically look at it like I'm still paying to 20%, and just getting free shipping instead... not true, but it makes me feel better about the situation.

However, the people COMC should be trying to attract are buyers that aren't necessarily sellers. With their current shipping policies and fees, they will have a VERY hard time selling their site as a realistic alternative to sportlots for buyers trying to complete sets... much less an alternative to ebay for buying when higher $ cards routinely sell for less on ebay. Their one biggest advantage WAS their shipping cap.

I understand they need to cover their costs when performing the task of pulling cards to be shipped, preparing them to be shipped, and paying for all the postage/supplies expenses involved with shipping an order. However, the buyer should not be responsible for all of these expenses if COMC can not make things operate efficiently enough to charge realistic shipping prices.

One point that I don't think has ever been addressed... I doubt they have a stable of "on-call" employees that sit around most of the day and only get paid when sent out to pull cards for an order. In other words, these employees are being paid regardless of what they are doing... so buyers should have to cover their pay when they are actually doing work related to what the site is set up for??? Its called a sunk cost. Their employees pay is going to happen whether someone places a 500 card order or not. I don't see why a buyer that is contributing that much to the site's success should have to foot the bill for wages that would have been paid with or without their actions.

I don't know whether COMC pays any attention to this forum anymore, but if they don't its a huge mistake. I have decided to stay committed to the site for the long haul, but I am VERY troubled by what I am seeing from other sellers on here over the last week or so. COMC will trumpet their quarterly stats at every chance which seem to show phenomenal growth for the site... and the stats are encouraging, to be sure. But how many of those page hits, cards sold, etc are coming from the same hundred or so dealers that are constantly checking the site and buying/selling with each other? What happens if dealers stop buying from one another for "flips" or sales only made to avoid the 20% cashout? It just doesn't seem like their is enough non-seller activity going on and the stats seem to hide that fact.

The only way for a site like COMC to survive is if it has a strong core of buyers, and that core continues to grow. It seems like too much of their focus is on covering every cent here and there that they have in overhead and not looking at how the site is good or bad from the perspective of the one segment that will be responsible for their longterm success... the BUYERS. Before their policy changes I would say the site was Great for Sellers / Great for Buyers. Now I'd say its Good for Sellers / Average for Buyers. I'm hoping it soon doesn't devolve into Average for Sellers / Bad for Buyers.

[mwheeler27]

A very simple solution, one that I keep recommending to you guys, reduce shipping expenses by making the sellers share in the expense. After all, sellers are complaining as much, if not more than the buyers.

Charge 5 to 10 cents per card sold. Heck, charge 25 cents and offer a flat $3.00 shipping.

Have you guys looked at the stats link I posted a couple pages ago???

4th quarter of 2008...they sold 58,000 cards.
1st quarter of 2009...they sold 93,000 cards. That's a 60% increase!

The proof will be in the pudding if they increase card sales by approximately the same amount during the 2nd quarter of 2009. That will tell a lot about their new changes.

For the record, I have sold over $800 worth of cards just today. I don't think less cards are being sold. The stats alone, (if correct of course), proves the last 3 months have been the best ever for COMC. I know and understand the changes took place two-thirds of the way into this first quarter, so again I will say...the 2nd quarter stats will be very telling.

[fm8418]

Originally Posted by mwheeler27

A very simple solution, one that I keep recommending to you guys, reduce shipping expenses by making the sellers share in the expense. After all, sellers are complaining as much, if not more than the buyers.

Charge 5 to 10 cents per card sold. Heck, charge 25 cents and offer a flat $3.00 shipping.

Have you guys looked at the stats link I posted a couple pages ago???

4th quarter of 2008...they sold 58,000 cards.
1st quarter of 2009...they sold 93,000 cards. That's a 60% increase!

The proof will be in the pudding if they increase card sales by approximately the same amount during the 2nd quarter of 2009. That will tell a lot about their new changes.

For the record, I have sold over $800 worth of cards just today. I don't think less cards are being sold. The stats alone, (if correct of course), proves the last 3 months have been the best ever for COMC. I know and understand the changes took place two-thirds of the way into this first quarter, so again I will say...the 2nd quarter stats will be very telling.

Yeah but you're a rarity though. Most people aren't using this site for high end stuff. Most of us were regularly selling are low end cards and now we seem to be lucky to sell one a day.

[mwheeler27]

Originally Posted by fm8418

Yeah but you're a rarity though. Most people aren't using this site for high end stuff. Most of us were regularly selling are low end cards and now we seem to be lucky to sell one a day.

I understand what you are saying, but I too have a lot of low-end cards. I would bet that I have a lot more low end cards than at least 1/4 of all sellers. I still sell cards that are less than $1 every day.

[pskell02]

I made $.65 today 3 cards on 3 offers from the same buyer in a 5 min span lol.

[iluvfish2]

List more Boggs Seriously though...think about it. It really depends on what you have in your inventory. FB right now is dead. Hockey has a limited sell basis (not sure they're selling overseas yet..if they do this will open up a huge window). Basketball is mostly dead (and has been). Baseball is just starting to get going, and minus rookies, its slow. Just this time of year. I agree with Matt. If they're getting the page views, it should benefit everyone. I also agree with everyone about the shipping prices. I've got 118 cards ready to ship (will most likely take about another 20 back from the site since customer service on them has gone to pot...07 Donruss Classics FB Errors) but its going to run me 31 bucks. Granted it will take some time for them to ship it, but would be much happier with a tiered shipping system...and with shipping prices going up next month..we may see a price increase in shipping!

[CaptainBOHICA]

i want to see a more telling stat...

how many cards have actually been shipped to buyers since March 31, 2009 and compare that to sample data from Jan 09 - Feb 09.

[mwheeler27]

Originally Posted by CaptainBOHICA

i want to see a more telling stat...

How many cards have actually been shipped to buyers since March 31, 2009 and compare that to sample data from Jan 09 - Feb 09.

I agree that there are stats that would be more "telling". Cards sold in terms of dollars for instance, and cards sold to buyers that requested shipping.

Dollar sales generated is a good stat to illustrate growth of a site like this. Continually increasing dollars sold, especially in these trying economic times, would speak volumes for a startup company such as this.

Of course there are other stats I'd like to see, but this one would be the most intriguing to me at the moment.

[tattooelement]

Originally Posted by pskell02

I made $.65 today 3 cards on 3 offers from the same buyer in a 5 min span lol.

Let me guess... dannybrown?

[parsetdx]

Originally Posted by CaptainBOHICA

i want to see a more telling stat...

how many cards have actually been shipped to buyers since March 31, 2009 and compare that to sample data from Jan 09 - Feb 09.

Agreed - I want to see shipments also. And I want to see this breakdown on the Y axis:

Accounts > 6 months old
Accounts > 3 months and < 6 months old
Accounts < 3 months old

I can't reflect it here because tabs won't work, but the X axis would be these categories:

# of NEW cards listed (let's see who's bringing new blood into the system)
# of cards < 4 weeks old sold (are we just moving cards around or transacting?)
# of cards > 4 weeks and < 8 weeks old sold
# of accounts purchasing 1 to 10 cards (who is buying the most?)
# of accounts purchasing 11 to 25 cards
# of accounts purchasing 26 to 100 cards
# of cards shipped

So on and so forth. Give me something more meaningful!